Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Raphael brings Tobias safely home to his parents: he, anointing his father's eyes with the fish's gall, restores his sight. Hence all bless God for joy, and feast.
Vulgate Text: Tobias 11:1-21
1. And as they were returning, they arrived at Charan, which is in the middle of the journey toward Nineveh, on the eleventh day. 2. And the Angel said: Brother Tobias, you know how you left your father. 3. If it please you therefore, let us go ahead, and let the household follow our journey at a slow pace, together with your wife, and with the animals. 4. And when he had agreed to go, Raphael said to Tobias: Take with you some of the fish's gall, for it will be necessary. So Tobias took some of that gall, and they went. 5. And Anna sat beside the road, every day on the brow of the hill, from where she could look out from afar. 6. And while she was watching from that same place for his arrival, she saw from afar, and immediately recognized her son coming, and running she told her husband, saying: Behold, your son is coming. 7. And Raphael said to Tobias: But when you have entered your house, immediately worship the Lord your God; and giving thanks to Him, go to your father and kiss him. 8. And immediately anoint his eyes with this gall of the fish that you carry with you: for know that his eyes will soon be opened, and your father will see the light of heaven, and will rejoice at the sight of you. 9. Then the dog, which had been with them on the journey, ran ahead; and coming as it were as a messenger, it rejoiced with the wagging of its tail. 10. And the blind father, rising up, began to run, stumbling with his feet: and giving his hand to a boy, he ran to meet his son. 11. And receiving him, he kissed him together with his wife, and they both began to weep for joy. 12. And when they had worshipped God and given thanks, they sat down. 13. Then Tobias, taking some of the fish's gall, anointed the eyes of his father. 14. And he waited about half an hour; and the white film began to come out of his eyes, like the membrane of an egg. 15. Which Tobias seizing, pulled from his eyes, and immediately he recovered his sight. 16. And they glorified God, he himself, and his wife, and all who knew him. 17. And Tobias said: I bless You, Lord God of Israel, because You have chastised me, and You have saved me, and behold I see my son Tobias. 18. And after seven days Sarah the wife of his son also entered, and all the household safe, and the cattle, and camels, and much money of his wife; but also that money which he had received from Gabelus: 19. and he told his parents all the benefits of God, which He had done for him through the man who had led him. 20. And Achior and Nabath, cousins of Tobias, came joyfully to Tobias, and congratulated him on all the good things God had shown him, 21. And feasting for seven days, they all rejoiced with great joy.
Verse 1: They Arrived at Charan
1. They arrived at Charan, which is in the middle of the journey toward Nineveh, on the eleventh day. — Charan is Haran, from which Abraham was called by God into Canaan, Genesis XI, 31 and following, which was later called Charrae, where Marcus Crassus was slain by the Parthians along with the Roman army. It was situated toward, that is in the direction of "Nineveh in the middle of the journey," from Rages to Nineveh. For Rages was in Media, Nineveh in Assyria, and Charan, or Haran, a city situated in Mesopotamia, was between both. Hence Serarius, Part IV, plausibly concludes that Tobias's total distance was eleven stages, but that because of the age and delicate health of Tobias and his wife, and because of the large retinue of servants, cattle, etc., so many days were consumed in the journey.
Verse 7: Immediately Worship the Lord Your God
7. And Raphael said to Tobias: But (the Septuagint's "but" signifies that these words must be connected to the earlier words of the Angel in verse 4, and that verses 5 and 6 are inserted as a parenthesis) when you have entered your house, immediately worship the Lord your God, and giving thanks to Him, go to your father and kiss him. — Learn here that when you travel or set out somewhere, first go to the church and invoke God, that He may prosper your journey and direct it to His glory and your own and others' salvation. Then when returning, first likewise return to the church and give God thanks; thus do religious and upright men. Hear Pacatus in the Panegyrics: "Entering great cities, we first visit the sacred buildings and the temples dedicated to the supreme Deity; then the forums and the gymnasia." And in his Rule, St. Benedict says: "Guests who have been received are to be led to prayer." So did St. Anthony when visiting St. Paul the First Hermit, as St. Jerome testifies in his biography, and the rest of the monks and hermits, as Cassian testifies.
Verse 9: Then the Dog Ran Ahead
9. Then the dog ran ahead. — Hear Bede: "The figure of this dog is not to be despised, because it is a traveler and companion of the Angel; for it represents the Doctors of the Church, who by contending with heretics, drive fierce wolves from the fold of the Supreme Shepherd. And he beautifully said, 'coming as it were as a messenger,' because indeed a faithful Doctor is a messenger of truth: beautifully 'it rejoiced with the wagging of its tail.' The tail, which is as it were the end of the body, suggests the end of good work, that is, perfection, or certainly the reward, which is given without end."
Verse 10: The Blind Father Began to Run
10. And the blind father, rising up, began stumbling with his feet. — Mystically: "The blind Tobias," says Pineda, "signifies the Jewish people rising from the lethargy of their own faithlessness and running to the Lord, although they stumbled in the steps of their works, until they received the light of full faith and good works, regenerated and instructed in Christ."
Verse 11: They Both Began to Weep for Joy
11. And they both began to weep for joy. — The Greek adds that the mother said: I have seen you, my son, now I may die, that is, content and happy. Thus Simeon, having seen Christ, said: "Now You dismiss Your servant, Lord, according to Your word in peace."
Verse 13: He Anointed the Eyes of His Father
13. Then Tobias, taking some of the fish's (callionymus's) gall, anointed the eyes of his father.
Verse 14: He Waited About Half an Hour
14. And he waited about half an hour — until the gall gradually, by its sharpness, eroded, thinned, and consumed the white film and membrane covering his father's eyes. Hence it is clear that this cure of blindness through gall was natural, as I said from Lyra, Dionysius, Serarius, Sanchez, and others in chapter VI, 8. Hence the Greek has Raphael saying: Anoint his eyes with the gall, and the biting itself will wear away the underlying cataracts, and he will look upon you. And below: Tobias sprinkled that gall into his eyes; and when his eyes stung as if bitten, he rubbed them, and from their corners, or angles, the cataracts fell away like scales. For which our text has: "And the white film began to come out of his eyes, like the membrane of an egg. Which Tobias seizing, pulled from his eyes, and immediately he recovered his sight." Moreover, Tobias was blind for 4 years, namely from age 56 to 60, when he recovered his sight, as is clear from chapter XIV, verse 3, where however the Greek says he lived blind for eight years, namely from age 58 to 66, when he was illuminated.
In the life of St. Gregory of Tours, Archbishop, it is narrated that his father Florentius was cured in a similar manner; for the author of the Life says thus: "Florentius was seized with a reviving heat; a fever was kindled, his feet swelled, the worst pain tortured him: the lingering disease had broken the man, and he lay almost given up for dead. Meanwhile the boy (his son Gregory of Tours) again saw in a dream a person asking him whether he was acquainted with the book of Tobias. He answered: Not at all. The person said: You should know that he was blind, and was cured by his son with the liver of a fish, with an Angel accompanying. Therefore you do the same, and your father will be saved. He told this to his mother, who immediately sent boys to the river; a fish was caught, the innards that had been commanded were placed upon the coals. The outcome did not deceive the man; for as soon as the fragrant smoke blew into the father's nostrils, immediately all that swelling and pain receded. St. Gregory of Tours himself repeats almost all of this word for word, in his book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter XL.
Mystically, Bede says: The white film signifies the foolishness of pleasing oneself, the egg signifies hope and confidence, Tobias signifies the Jewish people; he therefore has a white film over his eyes, who in his own eyes appears great, innocent, and just, and is too pleased with himself and arrogant; but he has it like the membrane of an egg, because he sustains the blindness of mind under the most foolish hope of a Christ yet to be born; for the Jews do not believe He has been born, but hope He will be born, and vainly wait for Him. But those from whom Raphael the physician, that is the Angel of great counsel, Christ the Lord, has removed all this darkness, recognize that the Messiah has already come and redeemed the world, and that He is Jesus Christ.
Allegorically, the fish is Christ, as I already said from St. Augustine, Prosper, and others. The flesh of this most sacred fish is His charity, attested by so many works done for our good, and shown by His sufferings and sorrows. And the smoke of His heart is our prayer, supported by the value of His merits. For this can do something with the Father, not because it is merely ours, but because it is poured forth by a member of Christ the natural Son, and founded on His merits and charity. This drives out every kind of demon, because it conquers the devil, and mocks his temptations and deceits. And therefore Chrysostom wisely attributes our fall to the absence of prayer and our victory to its presence.